‘Needs To Do Better’ – Brad Gilbert Sets Expectations for Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton Ahead of Hardcourt Swing

With the North American hardcourt swing set to begin, top American stars Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton will be under the spotlight as they look to achieve strong results on home soil. Ahead of the highly anticipated stretch, Gauff’s former coach, Brad Gilbert, has weighed in on their prospects following their contrasting fortunes during the grass-court season.

Brad Gilbert Previews US Open Series for Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton

After an unexpected third-round loss put an end to her French Open title defense, Gauff made a disappointing start to the grass-court swing by losing her opening match at the Berlin Open.

However, the American made an impressive turnaround at Wimbledon, advancing past the fourth round of the grass-court Major for the first time in her career. She ultimately fell short against Karolína Muchová in a tightly contested semifinal battle.

Speaking on a recent episode of “The Big T Podcast,” Brad Gilbert expressed confidence that Gauff will carry her strong run of form into the North American hardcourt swing after underwhelming results during that stretch over the past few seasons.

“I’m feeling like it’s time for Coco to have a good summer. She hasn’t had a good summer for a while. So I feel like that’s time,” Gilbert said.

Notably, Gauff enjoyed the most successful US Open series of her career when she was coached by Gilbert in 2023. During that run, she won the DC Open, triumphed at the Cincinnati Open, and clinched her maiden Grand Slam title at the New York Major.

Like Gauff, Shelton also suffered an early exit at the French Open, losing to Raphaël Collignon in the second round. Although the world No. 6 made deep runs at grass-court events in the lead-up to Wimbledon, he crashed out of the Major in the first round after a shocking defeat to Otto Virtanen.

Citing Shelton’s “disappointing” campaigns at the French Open and Wimbledon, Gilbert emphasized that he needs to “step up” during the North American hardcourt swing.

“You know who needs you needs to step up this summer because he had a disappointing European Major swing is Ben Shelton. He needs to do better this summer,” he said.

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Ben Shelton will look to make a strong return to competition at the Mubadala DC Open, which gets underway on July 27. Following the ATP 500 event, the 23-year-old will head to Montreal for the Canadian Open, entering the Masters 1000 tournament as the defending champion.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff will compete directly at the Canadian Open, continuing her search for her first tour-level title of the season at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto.